-Hindustan Times London: There are 1.6 billion people living in multidimensional poverty across the world and nearly 440 million of them are in eight large Indian states, according to a new analysis using a unique index developed at the University of Oxford.   The eight Indian states that have similar number of poor as in 25 African countries are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The poorest...

-The Indian Express According to government data, percentage of households without toilets in Odisha is an alarming 88 per cent. Odisha and Bihar, two states which have consistently demanded a special category status from the Centre on account of being backward, figure among the worst states in India when it comes to household toilets. According to the Baseline Survey – 2012 report of the Swachh Bharat Mission under the aegis of the Ministry...

-The Indian Express Information was collected on a range of parameters at the individual and household levels like occupation, education, disability, religion, SC/ST status and employment. Nearly one in every three rural households still have an uncertain source of income and continue to live in one-room kutcha houses, according to the findings of the first national Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC). Officials told The Indian Express that these households — 31.26 per...

-PTI KOLLI HILLS: Women tribal farmers are helming many community managed automatic weather stations at various agro-ecological zones here that could be game changers for the region in providing timely and accurate forecasts and ensuring food and nutrition security. Of the seven automatic weather stations in the hill ranges here, four are run by women and three by men with all of them being tribals and farmers.The AWS provide meteorologic information with...

  If environmental degradation disturbs you and you are averse to reading technical manuals and copious volumes on the subject, there is some good news for you.    A recently published book from Gene Campaign entitled Coping with Climate Change is doing the rounds among environmentalists, civil society activists, public servants and researchers. Edited by Dr. Suman Sahai, the book has been written in a coffee book style to make easy serious...